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The Nowata County area is one of several areas that declared a disaster emergency on Tuesday. Nowata County Emergency Management director Laurie Summers says that the declaration spans back to storms and flood damage beginning April 30.

Current conditions show the Verdigris River at 36.3 feet, which is still a few inches above major flood stage. This has shut down US-169 both north and south of the City of Nowata. Right now, the only main road out of town is US-60 to the west.

The American Red Cross shelter at the Nowata County Fair Building is now closed due to lack of need. However, the Red Cross still has all of its materials on-site in the event more need for the shelter arises. Also, several thousand sandbags continue to be passed out at this site free of charge.

Summers says the biggest concerns right now are new rainfall accumulation on Wednesday and drivers ignoring barricades blocking off flooded roads. A few rescues have been necessary due to this.

With the forecast for Thursday and Friday showing potentially dry conditions county workers are hoping to start assessing damage around the area. Any parts of the county east of US-169 are believed to have taken the biggest impact over the last month.